Back in the Day
by madelynn x3
Summary: Ever wonder how Matt and Emily got along when they first started working together? It wasn't always sunshine and butterflies between them. Please review!


**Disclaimer:** Matt and Emily do not belong to me..darn.  
**A/N:** This is my first Standoff fic. Please review :o)

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"Do you EVER know where anything is?!" snapped Emily, digging through the cabinets packed with files.

"N-not really?" said Matt unsurely, looking at Emily with angry eyes. He hadn't been working with her long enough to tell if she was joking or not. Emily seemed to be the fury of the storm at one moment and forget about it just as quickly. It was hard to tell when she was upset and about what.

The two of them were assigned as partners earlier that month, or more like two weeks ago. From the start, they were always on edge with each other. Matt couldn't read Emily as he normally could with people, and as a result he didn't know how to act. Laid back? Formal? Smart? Stupid? He couldn't read her emotions either. At first, Emily would seem happy and in a joking mood, so Matt would go ahead and crack a joke, which ended up throwing Emily on a rant about how he's not doing his job professionally. What Matt did know was that Emily drove a black Mazda RX-8 to work. He knew because he saw her pulling into the parking spot he was aiming at, causing Matt to park much further from the door in his blue Ford Mustang. Once, Matt even peered into the Emily's Mazda, trying to see how tripped out it was on the inside, but she caught him pressing his face to the glass and accused him of smearing the freshly cleaned glass.

Sighing in frustration and shooting a know-it-all glare in Matt's direction, Emily yanked out a manila folder from the tightly packed drawer.

"I found it..." she muttered through her teeth, opening the file and thumbing through its contents, "Where are this person's medical histories?"

Leaning back in his seat, Matt placed his hands behind his head and responded sarcastically with a grin, "Oh, don't ask me! I never know where anything is!"

Glaring again at Matt, Emily flipped the folder shut. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, before Emily laughed lightly and angrily, "Right. I forgot!"

Running his hand through his hair, Matt failed to bite his tongue and hold in his anger and smart comments, "So I'm the idiot that doesn't know anything. What does that make you? Little Miss Perfect?"

"Yeah, pretty much," replied Emily lightly, turning back to the drawer of files. She was hardly listening to Matt anymore and obviously didn't realize what she said. Matt, rolling his eyes and shaking his head, turned around in his chair and returned his attention to his laptop. After a while, Emily spoke out bluntly, "That was a joke."

"Yeah, there's no way that could have been true," said Matt, clicking around on his laptop absentmindedly.

Emily, offended by his smart remark, slammed the cabinet drawer shut, "So what does that make YOU? Not perfect, to say the least maybe – "

"Nobody's perfect."

"But one can be close to perfect. And you, Matthew, are FAR from it," said Emily quickly and smartly, turning to face Matt.

Matt, clearly upset, stood up from his chair in a flash and marched up to Emily.

"You wanna get smart with me, Emily? Huh?" demanded Matt loudly, pushing his face close to Emily's. Emily just glared fiercely back at Matt without moving. Neither of them spoke for a minute. Then Matt continued unsurely, "Uh, yeah. Don't get smart with me."

With that Matt left their office to the break room for a cup of coffee. It was only 11:22 am, and the conditions between the partners didn't seem like they would improve. Sipping his coffee, Matt realized he didn't put any sugar in his cup. He searched the cabinets for his container of sugar. That was the greatest convenience of this new job. Everyone could bring whatever they wanted for the break room without worrying about sharing or people hogging everything. Everyone had their own stuff. Dumping a spoonful of the white powder in his cup, Matt stirred his coffee and headed back to his office. Before he himself knew it, Matt spat his coffee out all over the floor in front of the break room, coughing and gagging on the disgusting taste of what he thought was normal coffee. It tasted incredibly salty.

Furious, Matt yelled, "EMILY! YOU ARE GONNA GET IT!"

Cheryl peaked out from her office, as well as the other workers from their cubicles. Laughing slightly, Cheryl shook her head as she watched Matt stomp back to his office with a scowl on his face.

"EMILY! DID YOU PUT SALT IN MY SUGAR JAR!?" Matt yelled, banging his cup of coffee down on her desk, causing hot salty coffee to splash on her various papers.

Suppressing her laughs, Emily looked at Matt sincerely and spoke in a sweet voice, "No, Matt. I did not do that. Why would I do such a thing?"

Fuming, Matt left their office, not really noticing where his feet were taking him.

_I thought this would be my dream job. But that WOMAN is such a nightmare_, thought Matt,_ She's INSANE. She needs to be locked up for forever and never … WHATEVER. I need a new partner ASAP._

"Cheryl! I need a new partner!" announced Matt, realizing that his feet took him into Cheryl's office, without even knocking.

"Oh, no you don't," dismissed Cheryl calmly, sitting down at her desk, "You just need time. You guys will be great partners, just give it a little while."

"A LITTLE WHILE!?" Matt exclaimed in skepticism, "I won't be able to last the rest of this WEEK, let alone a little WHILE!"

Cheryl chuckled, "C'mon Matt. Be a man. We didn't get along all the time either. Just wait and you'll see..."

Laughing sarcastically, Matt turned to leave, "That's funny."

And with that, Matt returned to his office while plotting what to do with Emily.


End file.
